Director General of the National Economic and Development Authority as Member

Secretary of Public Works and Highways as Member

President of the National Power Corporation as Member

One (1) member from the private sector appointed by the President of the Philippines on the recommendation of any national rice and corn organization of good standing and who shall serve for a term of four years unless sooner removed.

The Secretary of the Office of the Cabinet Secretary was designated Acting Chairperson of the NIA Board of Directors by virtue of Memorandum from the Executive Secretary - Office of the President. Before this, the Secretary of the Office of the Presidential Assistant for Food Security and Agricultural Modernization served as Board Chairman.

POWERS AND DUTIES PURSUANT TO PD 552:

To formulate and adopt policies for the management and operations of NIA, and to prescribe, amend and repeal, with the approval of the President of the Philippines, rules and regulations governing the manner in which the general business of NIA may be conducted, including provisions for the formation of such committee/s as the Board may deem necessary to facilitate the business;

To recommend to the President of the Philippines the appointment of such number of Assistant Administrators as the exigencies of the service may require from a list of names submitted by the Administrator; to fix the compensation of the Administrator and his Assistant/s, and by at least two-thirds vote of all the members, to recommend the suspension and/or removal of the said officials for cause;

To approve, subject to the final action of the President, the annual and/or supplemental budget of NIA which may be submitted to the Board by the Administrator from time to time;

To appoint and fix the compensation of a Board Secretary who shall hold office at the pleasure of the majority of the members of the Board.

THE RATIONALIZATION PROGRAM IN NIA

The Rationalization Plan (RPlan) for NIA was authorized under Executive Orders 366 (2004) and 718 (2008). NIA's RPlan aims to improve the delivery of service and productivity thru the merger of offices and streamlining their functions; and the creation of irrigation management offices out of the irrigation systems offices and provincial irrigation offices. The Internal Audit Service and Irrigation Engineering Center are new offices in the central office created under the RPlan. Certain functions and responsibilities that used to be lodged at the central office are decentralized to the field offices. The Irrigation Management Transfer Program is a major component of the RPlan. NIA started implementing its five-year phased Rationalization Plan in 2008.

The Administrator is NIA's chief executive officer. He is supported by a Senior Deputy Administrator and two Deputy Administrators: for engineering and operations; and administrative and finance. The central office issues guidelines and policies and exercises control over field operations.

FIELD OFFICES

Decentralization of functions is achieved through delegation of various authorities to field offices.

RIO: Regional Irrigation Offices (16), each headed by a Regional Irrigation Manager (RIM). These implement the plans, programs, and policies of the Agency in the region.
The RIOs oversee the Irrigation Management Offices.

Integrated Irrigation Systems (2), each headed by an Operations Manager for the two reservoir systems: UPRIIS and MRIIS.

IMO: Irrigation Management Offices (51), each headed by a Division Manager. These are responsible for the construction and rehabilitation of irrigation projects and systems in one or a cluster of provinces. These also implement the operation and maintenance (O&M) plans of irrigation systems in collaboration with the farmer-beneficiaries.
The IMOs consist of 40 clustered provinces; and the 9 district offices, and two dam and reservoir divisions of UPRIIS and MRIIS. Provinces with national irrigation systems aggregating less than 3,000 ha are under the direct supervision of the RIO instead of being clustered as IMO. These include Albay, Catanduanes, Masbate, and Sorsogon in Region 5, and Zamboanga del Norte and Sibugay in Region 9. A satellite office will be establish in each of these provinces.

PMO: Project Management Offices (15), headed by Project Managers, implement foreign-assisted national projects, and communal irrigation projects. The number of PMOs varies from year to year. The Project Manager reports directly to the Administrator, through the Deputy Administrator for Engineering and Operations and the RIM.
Locally-funded projects are implemented by the RIO thru the IMO or a team headed by a Project Engineer.